A surgical team led by Dr Rickard Brånemark, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, has carried out the first operation of its kind, where neuromuscular electrodes have been permanently implanted in an amputee.

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

For me tha major concern is how to close the body arround a titanium stem that comes out of the bone. In fact the mechanism is already within us: teeth are pieces of bone coming out of the skin, and nothing happens.

Platelets can be life-saving or life-threatening. These cells keep us from bleeding to death from injuries by enabling our blood to clot, but they also play a pathological role in heart attacks and strokes, inflammation and cancer. Contained in spongy bones, the bone marrow microenvironment and its "niches" support production of platelets and other blood cells. Mature blood cells pass between the bone marrow and the blood stream through blood vessels containing endothelial cells and extracellular matrix components (ECM) that are important for healthy blood cell production.

The special properties of silk protein were essential to successfully mimicking this microenvironment, explains Kaplan, a leading researcher on silk and other novel biomaterials whose laboratory has bioengineered silk-based models for the brain and other tissue.

We have launched a joint industry project (JIP) inviting companies from across the world to tackle the current and future issues faced by manufacturers supplying the energy industry – the latest JIP focuses on additive manufacturing.

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

additive manufacturing is being held back from widespread adoption in safety critical, asset intensive industries. Challenges exist because there is currently no standardised way of proving to manufacturers and regulators that printed products are safe. There are risks associated with consistency and quality control, long term performance, data integrity, intellectual property, and in both software and hardware used in high precision manufacturing – and it is not currently a technology that often can be used for assembly. The safe and sustainable use of powders used in the manufacturing process is also a concern from an environmental and health perspective.

Medtronic, Inc. announced it has completed global user evaluations of a next generation system that uses the new pump platform and represents a key step toward development of an artificial pancreas. The completely redesigned insulin delivery system comes with new features that offer convenience in managing diabetes and improved design elements that make the system easy to use.

Medtronic's next generation system uses the new platform along with a new Predictive Low Glucose Management (PLGM) algorithm. PLGM automatically stops insulin delivery when the sensor measures a glucose level predicted to approach the predetermined lowest limit, and then resumes insulin delivery after those glucose levels recover.

“A few years ago we recognized that stem cells could be used to continuously deliver these therapeutic toxins to tumors in the brain, but first we needed to genetically engineer stem cells that could resist being killed themselves by the toxins,” he said. “Now, we have toxin-resistant stem cells that can make and release cancer-killing drugs.”

Cytotoxins are deadly to all cells, but since the late 1990s, researchers have been able to tag toxins in such a way that they only enter cancer cells with specific surface molecules; making it possible to get a toxin into a cancer cell without posing a risk to normal cells. Once inside of a cell, the toxin disrupts the cell’s ability to make proteins and, within days, the cell starts to die.

Shah next plans to rationally combine the toxin-secreting stem cells with a number of different therapeutic stem cells developed by his team to further enhance their positive results in mouse models of glioblastoma, the most common brain tumor in human adults.

A man who was paralysed from the chest down following a knife attack can now walk using a frame, following a pioneering cell transplantation treatment developed by scientists at UCL and applied by surgeons at Wroclaw University Hospital, Poland.

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

Professor Geoff Raisman, Chair of Neural Regeneration at the UCL Institute of Neurology. "I believe we stand on the threshold of a historic advance and that the continuation of our work will be of major benefit to mankind. I believe we have now opened the door to a treatment of spinal cord injury that will get patients out of wheel chairs. Our goal now is to develop this first procedure to a point where it can be rolled out as a worldwide general approach."

A group of Israeli researchers has developed a new method to scan brain functions that enables high resolution, no radiation exposure. The method, developed at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, was successfully tested in mice and rats and the findings were published late last week in the journal Nature - Scientific Reports.

Scanning of brain activity is usually done using functional magnetic resonance imaging apparatus (fMRI). The new method, called TOVI) Transcranial optical vascular imaging), is a combination of two technologies: one - knows how to shoot a fluorescent microscope contrast of blood vessels in the brain after the animal was injected fluorescent material, and the second - a laser beam that allows complete picture of vascular brain.

"Combined tools we get a picture through the skull to the level of capillaries - the tiniest blood vessels, and better resolution scanning devices exist. Exceptional image received. Nobody messes in this area did not fall off the chair after seeing the products," said psychiatrist Dr. David Israel , Director, Department of Psychiatric Mental Health Center Jerusalem, Ministry of Health, which deals with the study of brain imaging and signed article with Prof. Alon Harmelin, Dr. Vyacheslav Kltz'nko and Dr. Yuri Kuznetsov Faculty of Biology at the Weizmann Institute.

After injecting material such as a camera for a time (in this case 50 milli - seconds) the activity of the brain blood vessels and produces real-time video effect. Beyond the benefits like resolution and reducing the use of radiation, the researchers say the ease of use of the system, especially when it comes to clinical applications.

"In fact, each of these technologies exist separately, but the integration between them has been giving a new dimension to scan the brain. Microscope fluorescent exists today and gives a picture of filling cerebrovascular using material response fluorescent injected to the patient. Scanning laser works on the principle of reflectance based on the level different traffic density and blood vessels, "explains Professor Hermelin Weizmann Institute. "The ability to integrate both allows to see the perpetrator or get an overview of the process of rehabilitation of the patient after the event brain such as stroke, for example, means a relatively simple and inexpensive. Is probably not constitute a complete replacement device fMRI, but it will allow the attending physician to watch on your PC his patient's condition in near real time, within a few seconds by the process in the brain. "

However, the development is still incomplete and requires more development work. Technology to provide a good picture of the brain, researchers require at this stage still peel the skin layer of the mice to reach the skull itself. Problem thickness through which the camera is required to penetrate is the next challenge researchers and believe, they are the solution. "We're trying to develop the system so that you can see brain activity in mice without the need to peel off the skins. Thickness restriction will be solved as soon as we talk about the application of this method also works in humans, their skull bone thicker than that of mice.'s What we're working right now," said Israeli.According to him, the system itself is already being implemented in research animals in search of drugs and monitoring of brain stimulatio

Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) announced today a definitive agreement to acquire assets of Small Bone Innovations, Inc. ("SBi") in an all cash transaction for up to $375 million.

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

Founded in 2004, SBi is a privately held business headquartered in Morrisville, Pennsylvania with facilities in France and Germany. SBi products are designed and promoted for upper and lower extremity small bone indications, with a focus on small joint replacement.

The assets to be acquired include the Scandinavian Total Ankle Replacement System (STAR Ankle). The STAR Ankle, sold globally in over 40 countries, is the only PMA approved, cementless, three-piece total ankle replacement system and is the most published total ankle replacement product in the world. With the addition of the STAR Ankle to the Stryker Foot & Ankle product portfolio, Stryker comprehensively addresses the broad range of foot and ankle procedures. Additional assets include finger, wrist, and elbow products, further expanding the existing Stryker upper extremity product offerings. The sales of the acquired products were approximately $48 million in 2013.

- Double-Digit Accretion to Zimmer's Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share in First Year

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

The merger of Zimmer and Biomet will position the combined company as a leader in the $45 billion musculoskeletal industry and is aligned with Zimmer's strategic framework, which focuses on growth, operational excellence and prudent capital allocation. The combined company is expected to deliver attractive growth by offering a more comprehensive and scalable portfolio of solutions with enhanced cross-selling opportunities. In addition, the combined company is expected to advance innovation to benefit healthcare stakeholders, and stockholders are expected to benefit from a more diversified and predictable revenue mix consistent with the comprehensive portfolio. Upon closing, the transaction is expected to be double-digit accretive to Zimmer's adjusted diluted earnings per share in the first year. Cash flows from operations are expected to increase by 1.5 times Zimmer's stand-alone estimates.

Curious as to why nerves of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) show some capacity for regrowth and repair, whereas nerves of the central nervous system (CNS) do not, scientists undertook a study of the PNS’ regenerative mechanisms, the chemical and genetic events that help peripheral nerves recover from injury. These scientists were already aware that damaged peripheral nerves emit “retrograde” signals, which activate an epigenetic program, which in turn initiates nerve growth. But the scientists were dissatisfied with how little was known about how, exactly, retrograde signaling could trigger the epigenetic mechanism.

The scientists hoped that if more were understood about the trigger, which works in the PNS, they might learn how it could be made to work in the CNS. Then CNS damage, which is currently irreparable, might become amenable to treatment, and people suffering spinal cord injury, stroke, or brain trauma might avoid loss of sensation or permanent paralysis.

Scientists representing Imperial College London and the Hertie Institute, University of Tuebingen compared the responses to PNS damage and CNS damage in a type of neuron called a dorsal root ganglion, which connects to both the PNS and the CNS. (The researchers considered cells in culture as well as mouse models.) Then, through systematic epigenetic studies, they discovered a protein that appears to be essential for a series of chemical and genetic events that allow nerves to regenerate.

The details of this work appeared April 1, 2014 in Nature Communications, in an article entitled “PCAF-dependent epigenetic changes promote axonal regeneration in the central nervous system.” As the title indicates, the crucial protein is called PCAF, for the histone acetyltransferase p300/CBP-associated factor. PCAF, the researchers found, “promotes acetylation of histone 3 Lys 9 at the promoters of established key regeneration-associated genes following a peripheral but not a central axonal injury.”

When researchers injected PCAF into mice with damage to their central nervous system, this significantly increased the number of nerve fibers that grew back, indicating that it may be possible to chemically control the regeneration of nerves in the CNS.

One of the study’s authors, Radhika Puttagunta, Ph.D., from the University of Tuebingen, said, “With this work we add another level of understanding into the specific mechanisms of how the body is able to regenerate in the PNS and have used this knowledge to drive regeneration where it is lacking in the CNS. We believe this will help further our understanding of mechanisms that could enhance regeneration and physical recovery after CNS injury.”

“The results suggest that we may be able to target specific chemical changes to enhance the growth of nerves after injury to the central nervous system,” said lead study author Simone Di Giovanni, M.D., Ph.D., from Imperial College London’s Department of Medicine. "The ultimate goal could be to develop a pharmaceutical method to trigger the nerves to grow and repair and to see some level of recovery in patients.”

"Implants used to be made by hand in the operating theatre using a sort of cement which was far from ideal,’ Verweij said. “Using 3D printing we can make one to the exact size. This not only has great cosmetic advantages, but patients’ brain function often recovers better than using the old method.”

Small scale clinical trial shows 60% improvement in ability to maintain eye contact with people

Samsung Electronics introduced its latest initiative to help improve the lives of those with autism. The Look At Me app aims to help develop communication skills in children with autism, with a view to deepening relationships with those around them.

Before putting the limb system through the paces, Baugh had to undergo a surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital known as targeted muscle reinnervation.

“It’s a relatively new surgical procedure that reassigns nerves that once controlled the arm and the hand,” explained Johns Hopkins Trauma Surgeon Albert Chi, M.D. “By reassigning existing nerves, we can make it possible for people who have had upper-arm amputations to control their prosthetic devices by merely thinking about the action they want to perform.”

The scaffold is manufactured in polycaprolactone, and infused with two recombinant human proteins: connective growth factor (CTGF) and transforming growth factor β3 (TGFβ3). Dr. Mao’s team found that sequential delivery of these two proteins attracts existing stem cells from the body and induces them to form meniscal tissue.For a meniscus to properly form, however, the proteins must be released in specific areas of the scaffold in a specific order. This is accomplished by encapsulating the proteins in two types of slow-dissolving polymeric microspheres, first releasing CTGF (to stimulate production of the outer meniscus) and then TGFβ3 (to stimulate production of the inner meniscus). Finally, the protein-infused scaffold is inserted into the knee. In sheep, the meniscus regenerates in about four to six weeks. Eventually, the scaffold dissolves and is eliminated by the body.

In a world first, doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital have managed to transplant a heart that had stopped beating. The donor heart wasn’t beating for up to 20 minutes before it was resuscitated and successfully transplanted.

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

n a world first, doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital have managed to transplant a heart that had stopped beating.

The donor heart wasn’t beating for up to 20 minutes before it was resuscitated and successfully transplanted.

A major challenge of systems biology is understanding how phenomena at the cellular scale correlate with activity at the organism level. A concerted effort has been made especially in the brain, as scientists are aiming to clarify how neural activity is translated into consciousness and other complex brain activities.

One example of the technologies needed is whole-brain imaging at single-cell resolution. This imaging normally involves preparing a highly transparent sample that minimizes light scattering and then imaging neurons tagged with fluorescent probes at different slices to produce a 3D representation. However, limitations in current methods prevent comprehensive study of the relationship. A new high-throughput method, CUBIC (Clear, Unobstructed Brain Imaging Cocktails and Computational Analysis), published in Cell, is a great leap forward, as it offers unprecedented rapid whole-brain imaging at single cell resolution and a simple protocol to clear up and make the brain sample transparent, is based on the use of amino-alcohols.

In combination with light sheet fluorescence microscopy, CUBIC was tested for rapid imaging of a number of mammalian systems, such as mouse and primate, showing its scalability for brains of different size. Additionally, it was used to acquire new spatial-temporal details of gene expression patterns in the hypothalamic circadian rhythm center. Moreover, by combining images taken from opposite directions, CUBIC enables whole brain imaging and direct comparison of brains in different environmental conditions.

CUBIC overcomes a number of obstacles compared with previous methods. One is the clearing and transparency protocol, which involves serially immersing fixed tissues into just two reagents for a relatively short time. Second, CUBIC is compatible with many fluorescent probes because of low quenching, which allows for probes with longer wavelengths and reduces concern for scattering when whole brain imaging while at the same time inviting multi-color imaging. Finally, it is highly reproducible and scalable. While other methods have achieved some of these qualities, CUBIC is the first to realize all.

CUBIC provides information on previously unattainable 3D gene expression profiles and neural networks at the systems level. Because of its rapid and high-throughput imaging, CUBIC offers extraordinary opportunity to analyze localized effects of genomic editing. It also is expected to identify neural connections at the whole brain level. In fact, last author Hiroki Ueda is optimistic about further application to even larger mammalian systems. “In the near future, we would like to apply CUBIC technology to whole-body imaging at single cell resolution”.

Exactech, Inc., a developer and producer of bone and joint restoration products for hip, knee, shoulder, spine and biologic materials, announced today the international launch of Optetrak Logic® Porous, a new porous technology for total knee arthroplasty.

Ian Burkhart, a 23-year-old quadriplegic from Dublin, Ohio, is the first patient to use Neurobridge, an electronic neural bypass for spinal cord injuries that reconnects the brain directly to muscles, allowing voluntary and functional control of a paralyzed limb. Burkhart is the first of a potential five participants in a clinical study.

“It’s much like a heart bypass, but instead of bypassing blood, we’re actually bypassing electrical signals,” said Chad Bouton, research leader at Battelle. “We’re taking those signals from the brain, going around the injury, and actually going directly to the muscles.”

The Neurobridge technology combines algorithms that learn and decode the user’s brain activity and a high-definition muscle stimulation sleeve that translates neural impulses from the brain and transmits new signals to the paralyzed limb. In this case, Ian’s brain signals bypass his injured spinal cord and move his hand, hence the name Neurobridge.

Burkhart, who was paralyzed four years ago during a diving accident, viewed the opportunity to participate in the six-month, FDA-approved clinical trial at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center as a chance to help others with spinal cord injuries.

First new program for Biological Technologies Office aims to aid amputees by layering and leaping beyond previous DARPA breakthroughs in prosthetics and neural interfaces

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

HAPTIX aims to achieve its goals by developing interface systems that measure and decode motor signals recorded in peripheral nerves and/or muscles. The program will adapt one of the advanced prosthetic limb systems developed under Revolutionizing Prosthetics to incorporate sensors that provide tactile and proprioceptive feedback to the user, delivered through patterned stimulation of sensory pathways in the peripheral nerve. One of the key challenges will be to identify stimulation patterning strategies that elicit naturalistic sensations of touch and movement. The ultimate goal is to create a fully-implantable device that is safe, reliable, effective, and approved for human use.

Four people with paraplegia are able to voluntarily move previously paralyzed muscles as a result of a novel therapy that involves electrical stimulation of the spinal cord, according to a study funded in part by the National Institutes of Health and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The participants, each of whom had been paralyzed for more than two years, were able to voluntarily flex their toes, ankles, and knees while the stimulator was active, and the movements were enhanced over time when combined with physical rehabilitation.

Carlos Garcia Pando's insight:

With his stimulator active, Summers was able to gradually bear his own weight and could eventually stand without assistance from physical therapists for up to four minutes. Surprisingly, seven months into the trial, Summers also discovered that he had regained some voluntary control of his legs. The researchers were amazed by this latter outcome, as intentional movement requires information to travel from the brain down to the lower spinal cord, a path that had been rendered nonfunctional by his injury. Other impairments caused by Summers’ injury also began to improve over time, in the absence of stimulation, such as blood pressure control, body temperature regulation, bladder control, and sexual function.

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